Falling From Grace
by Faoi Na Realtai
Summary: What would happen if the Secret Scientists had gotten to kidnap Zak? Not what you would expect; quite the opposite, in fact. Character death, though again, not who you'd expect.


A/N: First off, before you read, I'm warning you it's in second person. I'll post the reason below the story, so you can skip down and read them, but trust me, it's better this way.

Second, this story contains massive spoilers and character death. Personally I don't think it warrants an M rating, but it's borderline. I'm putting it under T because of that and because M's don't show up unless you shift the rating to all, but if you think it deserves to be under M, then I'll probably change it.

Also, it's not a song fic.

Without further ado, I don't own Secret Saturdays, so go ahead and read little angst fic.

**Falling From Grace**

_No one can hear me scream  
>Maybe it's just a dream<br>Or maybe it's inside of me  
>Stop this monster! <em>

- Skillet

It was another ordinary night, or as ordinary as you can get when you're one of the Saturdays. You had just finished up combat practice with your father, and you actually won, though you can't help but think it's because he let you. Sometimes your parents can't seem to let go of the fact you aren't a little kid, but it's more comforting than bothersome since you've found out you're Kur.

You never used to think about who you were before you found out. You were one of the good guys, the son of two heroes who was probably going to save the world from the monster. Now you lie awake every night instead of following asleep immediately because you **are **the monster who's supposed to destroy the world and you don't know how to fight that. The best you can do is try to convince yourself that what your dad said is true, you are still the hero, but some days that thought is easier to believe than others. On your worst nights, instead you wonder if you'll become a villain greater than V..

But still, despite these quarrelsome thoughts, darkness washes over your mind and you fall into a peaceful slumber, except you don't wake up.

Colors flash before your sleeping mind, and you feel like you hear a great commotion, and you still don't wake up.

The temperature drops around you and a sense of despair and death surrounds you, and still you don't wake up.

But you do dream.

At first, before the colors and the noise, the cold and the despair, your dreams are normal. You're flying as your family has a food fight below. Then Wadi shows up, garbed like an angel and you start laughing at her, because who wouldn't, right? She glares at you and somehow goes back to her normal everyday outfit. You start playing tag until Kur shows up, who you send away forever using your cryptid powers. Then everyone on the earth comes chanting, "Hero! Hero! Zak is a hero!" and you come back down to earth to receive your well-deserved praise. You always knew this day would come.

Your mom hugs you fiercely and says, "Good job, Zak! You defeated Kur!"

Your uncle Doyle ruffles your hair and says, "Nice one, mini man!"

But it's your father who makes you glow with prode when he says, "I always believed in you, son."

"Was there ever any doubt?" you say with a smirk.

But the dream washes away in a sea of red. You hear voices, and something pricks your arm before more bright colors wash before your eyes, like yellow and orange. You hear your parents fighting, so you try to open your eyes, but darkness sweeps over you again.

In time, blues sneak into your sleeping mind. You feel like you're freezing, and start to wonder if you're now dreaming about snow, and where's the hot chocolate and the snowball fights?

Instead of winter scenes, you feel energy rise within you, like when you use your cryptid powers. Visions from more than one perspective tumble into your mind, and you see yourself, kidnapped by the Secret Scientists. It's as if all the cryptids nearby have rushed to your rescue, though you aren't sure how you could feel like that in a dream. Your cryptid rescuers quickly dispose of your captors, and mentally you approve. After, it's only a dream, right?

Through their eyes, you see that you're still lying there. You don't seem to have an active role in this dream beyond commanding the cryptids, but you don't mind. One of the mammal-like cryptids, something that looks a bit like Fisk, picks you up, and you and your allies go out into the world.

After that, the dream transforms into a nightmare. The cryptids around you aren't peaceful, but are out to murder. They gather with you as their center, to kill, maim and destroy all the humans, the good ones to avenge what has been done to you, and the evil ones to sake blood lust. Every cryptid in your range is corrupted, feeding off the power inside you and the rage that broils through you; that power doesn't diminish in this, but increases, expanding your range and pulling more cryptids into this horror.

You see V. surprisingly under your command, and though he is mocking you in your head, you laugh because you know he resents being one of the common cryptids under your command. This is the only part of your dream you can stand.

Soon your mind is in chaos as cryptid minds tumble into yours, their senses overwhelming yours; and yet, some part of the back of your mind kicks in, providing strategies to most effectively kill off your species and communicating them easily to those who need them. You watch this helplessly, wishing desparately to stop it even if it is a dream.

It goes on like this forever, with searing pain in your head accompanying the helplessness, until you realize you can see out of the eyes of your siblings and they're attacking your parents. Your mom is fighting Zon and she's doing alright, but Fisk is overpowering your father. You watch as Komodo picks himself up from against the wall, where he was thrown, and throws himself onto your dad as well. You cry out in your mind to stop, but you're only a prisoner there, and no part of your being is obeying you.

Suddenly you're back at the center of the cryptids where you're being held, and Doyle flies in overhead. The air cryptids work to subdue him, but he comes through as only Doyle can, and soon you're snatched from the cryptid's arms, with something pricking your arm.

You feel more aware, and realize that you aren't dreaming, even if you're sleeping. Underneath you, though you're waking up your influence hasn't ceased. There's fire and blood and cryptids still doing things so vile, you can feel the terror of someone who has never seen these creatures before. _They're monstrous_, you think before you can stop yourself, and some of the cryptids in your mind rejoice at the thought, while others recoil at the demons you've made them become. Argost just laughs at you, ever mocking, and you're disgusted to have him in your head.

You try to turn your powers off, or at least direct the cryptids to some place where they can't hurt anymore people, but you're one kid against a multitude even if you are Kur, and Argost is beating you back, leading the cryptids with promises of more power. Then you remember your parents, and it's almost like your parents are standing right beside you. You reach out to every good cryptid in your mind, and with them it's enough to not only stop the evil cryptids, but to force them back to their original environments. You've won!

As all the cryptids clear from your mind, and you do a mental raspberry at Argost, you hear him say, _You don't really think you've gotten away scot-free, do you, my boy?_ You realize your siblings are upset about something, but they won't let you see what.

You open your eyes to see Doyle, who notices you're finally conscious and says, "No time to talk, mini man. The world went to pieces after you were kidnapped. We got to get back to the airship."

You nod, the wind pounding into you in a way that would usually make you yell in exhileration, but this time only makes you wish you could reach the airship faster. You can't stop thinking about your siblings attacking your parents. When you see the airship, you really want to just jump towards it, but at the same time, you want to dive back down to earth. You feel deep in yourself that whatever happened in there, nearly anything would be better than confronting it.

Still, there is no running away.

You enter the airshi[ and run to where you know the attack happened. Doyle runs after you, and before long you hear your mother's sobs, as well as whimpering from Fiskerton. You feel growing horror as you approach the door where this is going on. You rush inside the room to see exactly what you knew you would, since your strange waking dream.

Fiskerton's hands are covered in blood, and he's curled up in the corner. You hear running through his mind, _Couldn't stop. Wanted to stop. Could not stop. _Over and over this plays through his mind, but he won't look up. Komodo is much the same, his blood-soaked maw on Fiskerton's lap, and his eyes closed, as if in sleep. You know he's not.

Your mom is more broken up than you've ever seen her. She's hunched over and tears are falling from her eyes onto the person you've been avoiding looking at, and avoiding thinking about.

Your father is dead.

You knew from your dream he was. Right before you shoved all the cryptid's out of your head, you had been anchored to your siblings because your bond with them was strongest. You could feel Fiskerton's grief and Komodo's sorrow. You just couldn't face it then, and now you find you still can't.

Your mom looks up for a moment, and her eyes are filled with anything but love. There's disappointment, regret, horrow, betrayal, and you can't help but flinch away from the accusation in her eyes.

She whispers, "Go. Just go."

You run to your room because you don't know what else to do. For a long time, your mind shuts down. You don't sleep (you've had far too much of _that_)you don't meditate, you don't process any of your surroundings. You blank out the last 24 hours, and proceed to check out of reality until the mess you've made doesn't loom above you. You don't know how long you stay like that, but what you do know is the person who snaps you out of it isn't your mother, or any of your siblings, it's stare at him, and there's no hatred in his eyes, no disgust. There's only concern for his nephew.

You let yourself your cry, because there's no other way to come to terms with it, and that's why Doyle is here; to help you start the healing process. Doyle holds you, because no one else here will, and says, "It's going to be okay, mini man. It's going to be okay."

And you can believe him, because he still calls you mini man. At least to him, you're still his nephew, not a monster.

_I hate what I've become  
>The nightmare's just begun<br>I must confess that I  
>Feel like a monster<br>I feel like a monster _

Skillet

A/N: Now my reasons for writing this in second person are as follows:

I've never done it before, so it was an interesting experiment.

I saw it done wonderfully in a His Dark Materials story.

Using first person was too detached, and I couldn't get Zak's voice right.

It just wrote itself that way, and I am not one to get in the way of a good story.

Second, I totally don't support incest, including Doyle/Zak (ew). I support family being there for family. Please don't read anything in that last scene that wasn't there.

Now customarily an author would ask for reviews here, but I've got a different request. I implore you to go and write Secret Saturdays fanfiction, using a program that has spell-check, some inspiration, and the common sense not to include any OCs that aren't necessary. I wrote this because I couldn't find anything to satisfy my craving for more Secret Saturdays, and while it's great to finally be writing something, more than that I'd like to see this fandom wake up.

Other than that, constructive criticism, praise, and pointing out mistakes is always appreciated, and story suggestions are always appreciated. I am probably going to continue this fic a little more (though not in second person, and depending on how long this Secret Saturdays kick lasts, I may be writing for this fandom for a while. Or not. We'll see.

Later

Faoi Na Realtai


End file.
